The May issue of HP’s “Technology at Work” contains some useful information on phishing scams.
Phishing is the act of posing as a familiar, trustworthy entity in electronic communications and using that familiarity and trust to get recipients to release confidential information, such as passwords and bank account numbers.
The article summarizes tips to detect these scams.
- Unusual sender address
- Unusual URL
- Lacks personalization
- Misspellings
- Urgent action
- When in doubt
- (The “What now?”)
As I’ve noted before, scams do not need to be particularly artful or sophisticated. Just a simple subject like “Alert User ID Suspended” or “Your document is attached” or “Is this your photo” — to make you anxious or provoke your curiosity. Many want you to open an attachment.
Be safe! And watch out for Mother’s Day scams.